Unraveling Genetic Variability in Brinjal Shoot and Fruit Borer, Leucinodes orbonalis (Guenee) using Mitochondrial Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI)

The present study was undertaken to provide insights regarding population genetic structure of Leucinodes orbonalis from diverse locations. Molecular characterization of L. orbonalis populations collected from seven locations was carried using mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI). Collected specimens were subjected to DNA extraction, PCR amplification and sequencing of the targeted gene. The samples of L. orbonalis were collected from three locations of Himachal Pradesh, two locations each from Punjab and Haryana. The pair-wise genetic distance of L. orbonalis populations collected from different regions of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana ranged from 0.0000 to 0.0044. This suggests that there is not much variation in the population of L. orbonalis from different locations. The phylogenetic analysis revealed two distinct clades based on the COI gene of mitochondrial region of L. orbonalis. The population of L. orbonalis from Shimla (MW363534), Solan (MW344268), Una (MW363538), Karnal (MW363539), and Jalandhar (MW363537) were clustered together in clade I due to their close proximity, while population of L. orbonalis from Firozpur (MW363535) and Bhiwani (MW363536) were clubbed in clade II. The average nucleotide compositions were adenine (30.46 %), thymine (39.57 %), guanine (14.02 %) and cytosine (15.93 %).